Hidden Kiss & White Chocolate Gingerbread Thumbprints.

For the last football game of the season, I decided to make Hidden Kiss and White Chocolate Gingerbread Thumbprints. I ended up being really frazzled and rushed for time today. Why? Well, it seems to take EXTRA long for butter to soften if your house is not that warm. So, I totally misjudged the amount of time I would need to make both cookies. I also had an issue with Ariana (my almost 2 month old) not wanting to be put down. But, I managed to get them both made.

It is NOT easy to make cookies like this!

Hidden Kiss Cookies

When I originally saw this cookie recipe, they were called 'Forgotten' instead of Hidden. I thought 'Hidden' made more sense given that you are essentially hiding the Kiss (or Hug as I used both) in the cookie dough. 

 All the ingredients

Now, because I wasn't paying to much attention as I begin to make this cookie, I had no idea until I was making it that this recipe is egg-free. So the cookie ends up being more of a Shortbread cookie instead of a chocolate chip cookie like I was first expecting.  Also, I will warn you that because of the lack of egg, it took a lot longer to mix the flour into the butter/sugar/vanilla mixture. It was also tougher to stir in the mini M&M's. Not impossible, and by no means would I not make these cookies again, just making you aware.

Finished Cookie Dough

Kaedence really liked eating this dough, and being egg-free I was totally ok with it. Weird how I have no problem eating dough with raw egg in it myself (Salmonella anyone?) but it freaks me out to let my daughter.

Now, just like last week's cookies, I totally recommend opening up your Kiss's ahead of time. I used Hershey's Special Dark and Hershey's Hugs (since I had some left from last week).

Hugs & Kisses

I found it super easy to 'hide' the candy. It was MUCH easier than hiding the Oreo's I did last week.  I just took a glob of cookie dough, pushed the Kiss/Hug into it, folded the dough up and then rolled it into a ball. Then onto a cookie sheet they went and into the oven.

 Big Helper and dough balls ready for the oven.

Finished Cookie!

These cookies tasted pretty good. I tried taking a picture of how the middle looked, but my pictures didn't come out as well as I had hoped.

You can see the chunk of chocolate (this was a Dark Chocolate Kiss), but the picture came out a bit blurry. I won't lie, if I made these again, I would use a basic chocolate chip recipe and substitute the chips for M&M's. I love the shortbread taste, my husband does not. I've actually made shortbread cookies before, and he was not a fan. So just for that I would switch it up.
Recipe: 
1 Cup Softened Butter
1/3 Cup Sugar 
1/3 Cup Light Brown Sugar (packed) 
1 Teaspoon Vanilla 
2 Cups Flour 
1 Cup Mini M&ms 
1 9oz. Bag Hershey Kisses (I used Dark and Hugs)
Preheat over to 375 degrees F.
In a large bowl, beat butter, sugars, and vanilla until smooth.
Add the flour and stir until well mixed.
Stir in mini M&M's.
Mold a tablespoon of cookie dough around each Kiss, covering completely. Shape into balls.
Place on ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake for 10-12 minutes

White Chocolate Gingerbread Thumbprints

I attempted a similar recipe to this last year. I saw it in a McCormick Spice Holiday recipe pamphlet. It used Hugs pushed into the middle of a Gingerbread cookie (like the peanut butter blossoms). So last year I made them from scratch. I hated them. Really, REALLY hated them. Not only is gingerbread SUPER hard and time consuming to make (you have to refrigerate overnight), I came to the realization that I cannot stand the smell of Molasses. I had no idea how BAD molasses smells. Who would have thought that when molasses cookies taste SOOO good?!?! Oh and the cookies I attempted last year also ended up as flat as paper. So when grocery shopping last Sunday and carousing the baking isle, I came across a Betty Crocker gingerbread cookie mix. Yes people, I cheated again and used a pre-made mix. And I am VERY happy I did! 

  All the ingredients (minus the water) to make the cookie dough.

This recipe also called for softened butter, so make sure you have enough time for that to happen! It was super easy to mix and smelled DELIGHTFUL. Reminded me of Christmas cookies.

Once the dough was mixed, I took chunks of dough and rolled them into about 1 inch balls. I then rolled them through white sugar and placed them on baking sheets.

 Ready for the oven!

Then into the oven they went. My whole house smelled divine while these babies were cooking. I'm pretty sure my dog even licked the oven.  Once the cookies were done and out of the oven, I immediatly pushed white chocolate chips into each cookie. I found it easy to make a imprint (hint the name) with my finger in each cookie and then push in the white chocolate chips. That way they didn't roll off the cookie onto the pan. I will warn you, the cookies will be HOT. So do so at your own risk.

 Yummy

Out of the oven and ready for their decorations!

These cookies tasted FANTASTIC. There is nothing better than a good gingerbread cookie. And the white chocolate added a bit of sweetness to the spicy cookie. 

Finished Cookie!

Recipe: 

1 Pkg. Betty Crocker Gingerbread Cookie Mix

1 Egg

1 Tablespoon Water

Sugar (less than half a cup)

White Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 350 Degrees

Mix Dough according to package (butter, egg, water and mix)

Roll dough into 1 inch balls

Coat balls in sugar

Place on ungreased baking sheet

Bake for 10 min

Remove and immediately place 4-6 chips in middle of each cookie.

Cool completely. 

Thanks for reading! Hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving and here's to hoping for a great weekend of College Football!